Port intelligence

[Rumpelstump]

Port Intelligence characterizes the volume of passengers on ships.  Volume of passengers is subjective using visual observations and surveying port s.

[Rumpelstump]

Vancouver, BC,   On June 2  ,  2:30 pm

  Holland America : Zuiderdam -  Passenger load appears sparse.  One metro Vancouver staff told me slightly more than 700 passengers,  another employee told me 1000.  Capacity 2364.

 

 

  Seven Seas:  Mariner - Passenger load appears near empty.  One metro employee told me 400 passengers.  Capacity 700

Edited June 2, 2022 by Rumpelstump
Missing info, spelling error

[Urban trekker]

On my recent Alaska cruise on the Koningsdam we had about 1600 passengers - capacity is around 2400.

[Rumpelstump]

Vancouver, BC, June 3 3:15pm

 

Royal Carribian: RADIANCE OF THE SEAS - Port of Metro Vancouver Staff reported 1900 passengers, capacity 2466.

 

 

 

[Rumpelstump]

Vancouver BC : June 4,  4pm

 

Three cruise ships in port.  All appear to be less than half full.  I asked a port employee about passenger traffic.  The port employee told me he has no idea how many passengers are on each of the ship but he admitted that passenger attendance was very light. Looking at the top decks at departure time, there were hardly any passengers participating in the sail away parties.  Weather was good.

 

Cunard: Queen Elizabeth - Capacity 2092

 

Holland America: Koningsdam - Capacity 3194

 

Princess: Majestic - Capacity 4272

 

 

Where are all the cruise passengers?  Why so many missing out on all those empty rooms?  Cruisers on board, what are you seeing?

[Rumpelstump]

Vancouver, BC,   On June10  ,  1:5 pm

  Celebrity : Millennium -  Passenger load moderate with plenty of excess capacity.  Metro Vancouver staff told me slightly more than 1800 passengers Capacity 2590.

 

Seaborn: Odyssey -  Passenger load lite.  Metro Vancouver staff told me 318 passengers. Capacity 540.

[rkacruiser]

On 6/4/2022 at 10:50 PM, Rumpelstump said:

Looking at the top decks at departure time, there were hardly any passengers participating in the sail away parties.

 

After watching many sailings over the years from Canada Place, it would certainly seem very odd to not see the open decks and verandas with many, many guests.  

[Ferry_Watcher]

20 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

After watching many sailings over the years from Canada Place, it would certainly seem very odd to not see the open decks and verandas with many, many guests.  

it can be very windy on the docks, and if you are not in the sun, it can be chilly. 

Also, it is rather noisy with the delivery trucks and the vehicles that carry and raise up the transport cages holding all the luggage.  It's especially noisy when those vehicles back up and the back up warning sounds.  There's only so much time you can spend outside on the dockside of the ship until the noise drives you inside, or away from that side of the ship.

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

it can be very windy on the docks, and if you are not in the sun, it can be chilly. 

Also, it is rather noisy with the delivery trucks and the vehicles that carry and raise up the transport cages holding all the luggage.  It's especially noisy when those vehicles back up and the back up warning sounds.  There's only so much time you can spend outside on the dockside of the ship until the noise drives you inside, or away from that side of the ship.

 

My post was referencing sailing time when those ship watchers like to see and wave to those on the ships that are sailing.  Canada Place is such an ideal spot for that kind of activity!  

 

As a guest, I enjoy watching the activity on the dock with the refueling, re-watering, and the resupplying of the ship.  But, as you correctly pointed out, the noise and the weather has made me retreat into my stateroom or elsewhere on the ship at times.  

[Rumpelstump]

Vancouver, BC,   On June12  ,  2:00 pm  19 degrees c

 

I was hoping people at all ports and/or passengers on cruises will reign in on the volumes of passenger traffic they observe on each  cruise ship voyage.  I am having trouble finding  that data.  It should be available in real time.  I imagine the cruise lines desire to keep passenger count information proprietary.  Perhaps these posting attempt to fill the void of the missing passenger traffic data.

 

What I report is qualitative, judgmental, and subject to error.  Sometimes a cruise port employee utters the  passenger  counts to me. Most of the people I encounter do not know.  I live nearby so its easy to observe the passenger boarding and passenger activity on the outer decks.  I spend about 30 minutes or so watching the boarding process from the observation decks.  I have been visiting the port regularly since 2009 giving me a sense of what can be classified as high and low passenger traffic.   So far this season, my sense suggests moderate passenger traffic with lots of excess capacity on all ships. Like a few hundred empty rooms!

 

In the last few days I received mailers from Hollard America and Seaborn offering deep discounts on upcoming cruises.  These ads are difficult to interpret.  If HA says "Exclusive Fares up to 55% Off + Reduced Deposit + Onboard Credit,"  -- I struggle to understand.  55% of what?  Nevertheless, cruise lines are offering promotions to fill their excess capacity through lower fares, cabin upgrades, and other incentives.  Cruise ship passenger fares might be one commodity that is not experiencing the price inflation of most other commodities.

 

Todays report - 3 ships in the harbor

 

Celebrity : Eclipse.      Passenger load moderate with plenty of excess capacity.  Metro Port Vancouver staff told me slightly more than 2400 passengers Capacity 3420.  I think there are fewer than 2400 passengers.

 

Holland America: MS Noordam .  Port Vancouver staff told me there were 2400 passengers.  I doubt this.   Capacity 2366 passengers.  The ship was no where near full.

 

Royal Caribbean:  Serenade of the Seas.  Passenger load looked fairly sparse.  Passenger capacity 2580.  

 

Supplementary note: The Viking Orion was moored in the harbor away from the terminal.  I have not seen this before.  3 large ships, were in port.  There is  no room for ships additional ships to dock at the Canada Place terminal.  Perhaps the Orion will dock later this afternoon after one or more of the other ships departs.

 

[lissie]

On 6/5/2022 at 2:50 PM, Rumpelstump said:

Vancouver BC : June 4,  4pm

 

Three cruise ships in port.  All appear to be less than half full.  I asked a port employee about passenger traffic.  The port employee told me he has no idea how many passengers are on each of the ship but he admitted that passenger attendance was very light. Looking at the top decks at departure time, there were hardly any passengers participating in the sail away parties.  Weather was good.

 

Cunard: Queen Elizabeth - Capacity 2092

 

Holland America: Koningsdam - Capacity 3194

 

Princess: Majestic - Capacity 4272

 

 

Where are all the cruise passengers?  Why so many missing out on all those empty rooms?  Cruisers on board, what are you seeing?

according to the Cunard boards Queen Elizabeth has only about 1000 pax - they cancelled some peoples booked trips because of lack of staff 

[Rumpelstump]

Sources on the web, including Cunard state the passenger capacity of the Queen Elizabeth is 2081 passengers.

 

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-us/cruise-ships/queen-elizabeth/7?otprrf=https_www.google.com%2F

[Rumpelstump]

Vancouver, June 13, 1pm.  Great weather at the port 20 degrees c

 

Today the passenger traffic appeared busy as compared with previous days.  Doubt the ships were full.

 

Disney: Wonder Capacity 2713 passengers - 875 rooms.   This ship had the largest clusters of passengers queuing on the gangways and on the ship decks.  Passengers can be seen on their balconies.

 

Norwegian: Jewel - Passenger Capacity 2376 .  Passenger presence appeared sparse.

 

Hurtigruten:  Roald Amendsen - Passenger capacity 528.  Passenger presence appeared sparse.

 

Supplementary Note:  The Viking Orion was  standing out in the harbor.  According to marinetraffic.com, the Orion moved to the Canada Place dock last night and then moved back to its current location in the harbor. What is the Orion doing out there?

 

[Rumpelstump]

Viking Orion left last night.  Must have been an evening boarding.

[Rumpelstump]

 

 

In Vancouver today at roughly 3:35pm, light rain, 15 degrees Celsius.

 

Holland America Zuiderdam 1916- 2272 passengers.  Appears way less than full.  The photo shows passengers during the sail away party on the top deck.

 

Regent Seven Seas: Mariner - 700 passengers.  Appears sparse.

 

According to Cruise Industry News, Carnival Corporation ships traveling to Alaska (including Holland America and Princess) requires passengers to mask up on all indoor spaces.  This suggests that Covid contagion is widespread.  There a lots of cruise ship assets on the waters.  They want to keep sailing so they are doing what is necessary to keep the disease spread down. 

 

See https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27673-holland-america-and-princess-requiring-face-masks-on-alaska-cruises.html 

[Rumpelstump]

Quoteing  Sabrina Escobar

   from Barron's magazine today..

 

Already, cruise lines have experienced pricing declines from May to June, indicating that bookings may be eroding, according to early June data from Bank of America Securities. BofA analyst Andrew Didora views the slowdown as “more specific to the cruise industry than a larger read to the leisure consumer,” given further Covid-19 pressures, ongoing pushes to ramp up capacity, and difficulty attracting consumers who are new to cruising.

 

This confirms the lighter than usual loads I see on ships departing Port Vancouver.

 

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

Passenger counts in Seattle are quite robust.

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Passenger counts in Seattle are quite robust.

 

Very interesting.  Why?  Is the additional hoop to jump through of ARRcan having a discouraging impact on those cruisers who might want to sail from Vancouver?  

[Ferry_Watcher]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Very interesting.  Why?  Is the additional hoop to jump through of ARRcan having a discouraging impact on those cruisers who might want to sail from Vancouver?  

I think Seattle is just so much easier to get to than Vancouver, BC for Americans.

[rkacruiser]

6 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

I think Seattle is just so much easier to get to than Vancouver, BC for Americans.

 

I agree.  The additional hoop that Canada has imposed for travelers to Canada would discourage me.  I enjoy sailing from either port, but only Vancouver offers a 7 day cruise that begins/ends in Alaska.  

[Rumpelstump]

In Vancouver today at roughly 4:00 pm,  15 degrees Celsius.

 

Holland America: Koningsdam 2650 passengers.  Appears busy today.  See the throngs of people on the top decks during the sail away.

 

Princess: Majestic - 3560  passengers.  I left the pier before this ship departed. From a distance I was able to see a crowd on the top decks at departure time. Fewer people observed as compared with the Koningsdam.

 

American Queen Expeditions: Ocean Victory - 183 passenger capacity:  Could not tell the quantity of passengers.  I saw few passengers boarding and very few on the decks and on the verandahs. 

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

On 6/15/2022 at 5:41 PM, Rumpelstump said:

According to Cruise Industry News, Carnival Corporation ships traveling to Alaska (including Holland America and Princess) requires passengers to mask up on all indoor spaces.  This suggests that Covid contagion is widespread.  There a lots of cruise ship assets on the waters.  They want to keep sailing so they are doing what is necessary to keep the disease spread down. 

 

This may be true for ships embarking from Vancouver (and possibly disembarking in Vancouver, as well).  Ships leaving Seattle are not requiring passengers to wear masks, with the exception of some venues on some ships (exp, Solstice Theatre & Casino).

 

Seattle's Pier 91 dropped it's requirement for passengers to wear masks inside the building during the check-in process at the request of the cruise lines (X, Royal and Carnival).  Pier 91 staff still required to wear masks.

[Rumpelstump]

I was trekking along the Stanley Park seawall where I can see the Disney Wonder in port.  Later on the Wonder passed by me.  Notice the throng of passengers on the top deck.

[Rumpelstump]

Carnival Cruise Corporation reported earnings today.  A key metric in their report stated that occupancy was 69%.  This occupancy confirms my observations.  There is plenty of excess capacity.  Occupancy is moving in the right direction.  Carnival reported occupancy at 50% in their previous quarterly statements. The cruise line is discounting rooms in an effort to fill their ships. This hurts their margins.  They are loosing money and they are deeply in debt while the cost of capital rises.

 

 

[Rumpelstump]

At Port Vancouver today at roughly 2:00 pm,  19 degrees Celsius.  Sunny!

 

Lots of passengers on the deck of the Celebrity Millennium.  No so many on the decks of the Queen Elizabeth.